How Turnbull & Asser helped define James Bond’s style

Sean Connery’s shirts in the early Bond films came from Turnbull & Asser, one of Jermyn Street’s oldest and most distinguished shirtmakers.

Long before Bond style became a thing, Sean Connery’s shirts in Dr No were coming from one of the oldest shirtmakers in Jermyn Street. Turnbull and Asser was founded in London’s Jermyn Street in 1885, where its store remains to this day. Over the years the company developed a reputation for classic English shirts and attracted clients ranging from royalty to politicians and military officers.

Although the company was never mentioned in Ian Fleming’s novels, Fleming himself was a customer and another regular client, Dr No director Terence Young, turned to Turnbull and Asser when he needed to dress Sean Connery for his first appearance as James Bond. Its association with old-school British dress made it a natural fit for the world Young wanted to create around Bond in the early films.

Young’s influence on the look of Bond in the early films was enormous. Connery had the physical presence to play 007, but much of the character’s style was shaped by Young, who introduced him to the world of tailored suits, Savile Row discipline and the details of upper-class dress. Turnbull and Asser became part of that process from the beginning.

Among the shirt details now closely associated with Connery’s Bond are the distinctive cocktail cuffs seen in several of the early films. The folded cuffs gave Bond’s shirts a slightly less conventional look on screen and later became strongly linked with Turnbull and Asser’s connection to 007.

The association proved long-lasting. All the Bond actors, with the exception of Timothy Dalton, have worn shirts supplied by Turnbull and Asser at some point during their tenure. Most recently, the company produced the dress shirt worn by Daniel Craig in the Montenegro casino scenes in Casino Royale.

The Jermyn Street store itself still feels connected to an older London. In addition to shirts, ties and other items of clothing, the shop displays pieces made for famous clients including Sir Winston Churchill. Dark wood fittings, traditional displays and shelves of folded shirts give it a very different atmosphere from the glossy luxury boutiques now associated with modern Bond fashion.

Although the Casino Royale dress shirt was eventually made available commercially, Turnbull and Asser’s standard Sea Island cotton shirts remain expensive even by luxury menswear standards. As you would expect, the shirts are extremely well made and use exceptionally high-quality materials.

What really makes a Turnbull and Asser shirt stand out, however, is the collar. The shape and structure give the shirts a distinctive look under a suit and tie, particularly in the earlier Bond films where Connery’s clothing relied more on cut and proportion than obvious styling details.

That was always part of the appeal of Bond’s wardrobe in the early films. Connery’s shirts belonged to an older tradition of British tailoring built around quality, fit and understatement.

Bond style has always worked best when it feels wearable. Even the more casual pieces in Bond’s world tend to follow that same understated approach.
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